Bibliographie des oeuvres de Denis Diderot, 1739–1900 by David Adams (review)

Abstract

1052 Reviews the text of each letter has been verified against the original source. With regard to cat? egorization and status, the editors have distinguished carefully between billets (often undated and unsigned, although sometimes recording the hour of writing), lettres delivered by Mme Bentinck's personal courier, and those sent through the postal service, the latter being particularly interesting for their use of codes, innuendo, and other forms of non-dit to circumvent the surveillance of the Prussian authorities, and lettres ostensibleswritten by Mme Bentinck as much for the King's attention as for Voltaire's. The attention paid to these and other factors facilitates a much greater undertanding of this important correpondence than has been possible hitherto. University of Sheffield David Williams Bibliographie des oeuvres de Denis Diderot, 1739-1900. By David Adams. (Publi? cations du Centre International d'Etude du xvme Siecle, 6-7) Ferney-Voltaire: Centre International d'Etude du xviii6 Siecle. 2000. 2 vols; 464 pp. +480 pp.; 72 black and white illustrations. ?280. ISBN 2-84559-009-1. This excellent bibliography, which makes a significant contribution to research on Diderot, lists almost 850 editions, including reprints and translations, of Diderot's works published up until the end of the nineteenth century. The work is intended to be as close to exhaustive as is practically possible, and given the thoroughness of David Adams's researches, that is clearly very close indeed. It is traditional in reviews of this sort of work for reviewers to point out at least one accidental omission , something that, in this case, I find myself unable to do. There are, however, two deliberate omissions: Adams sensibly leaves out the publication history of two major collaborative projects in which Diderot was involved which have been dealt with (or are being dealt with) by other scholars, viz. the Correspondance litteraire and the Histoire des deux Indes. He also indicates that to have continued beyond the turn of the twentieth century would have resulted in the duplication of work already undertaken by Fredrick A. Spear. A chronological list of all editions produced during the period precedes the descriptions which necessarily form the bulk ofthe text, with the firstvolume including all collections?complete and collected works, anthologies of extracts, collected plays, anthologies of poetry, correspondence, the Encyclopedie and collections of articles from it?while the second volume lists in alphabetical order all editions of individual works. To add furtherto the value of these volumes as a work of reference, there is a bibliography of relevant secondary sources and three indexes, of Diderot's works, of booksellers, publishers, and printers (including a geographical breakdown), and a general index of names and works by others. The whole is prefaced by an interesting essay on what the publication history of Diderot's works tells us about his reputation in France and in the various other countries in which editions of his works appeared. But it is on the quality of the bibliographical descriptions that such a work stands or fails, and Adams is punctilious. For each volume described we are given scrupulous transcriptions of the title-pages (including descriptions of the decorative elements) and details about the size and format, pagination, watermarks, layout, contents, running headlines, and illustrations. The location of the copy de? scribed is given in each instance, with the pressmark where applicable, and a list of all other known copies is also included. Notes referto other researchers who have de? scribed the edition and also draw attention to any other points of interest. A generous number of illustrations of title-pages of volumes described are also included. This bibliography is destined to become a key research tool for all Diderotistes, and is an essential purchase for all university libraries. University of Wales Swansea Derek Connon ...